Colleagues,
As we wrap up the fall semester, I would like to take a moment to thank all of you for your ongoing support of the Colorado Online project. There are many moving parts in co-creating our new consortial approach to Online Learning, and I know it is a lot on top of everything you are already doing to serve students. This project is so very important to equity and the ongoing success of our students and institutions moving forward. We are using a rapid prototyping approach, starting with a small pilot of seven courses this spring. We will continue to adjust and refine processes, completing our transition to the new model by Fall 2024. Here is a summary of recent progress:
- As of today, over 730 students are enrolled in the spring pilot. The pilot implementation team is working through processes for tracking and managing enrollment, as well as details of providing training and support for faculty, instructors, students, and staff.
- We have adjusted the transition timeline for specific courses as requested by the State Discipline Chairs. The new timeline is attached, and updated worksheets with section level information will be sent to the VPs and Deans to help with planning.
- Several courses went through the first full pilot of the Learning Design Academy this fall. Feedback received from faculty and the steering committee will help guide future evolutions of our collaborative course development process.
- For courses that have not already gone through the Learning Design Academy, state discipline faculty will choose the common course materials that need to be listed when students begin registering for pooled online course sections for Summer and Fall 2023. Nominations will continue to be accepted through January 13, with discipline faculty making final selections by February 15.
- We have also reaffirmed the critical role played by the CCCS Academic Technology team in developing custom programming solutions, including middleware that is being used to place students who register for pooled sections in Banner into individual teaching sections in D2L. Originally built for CCCOnline, this process has been customized for Colorado Online so that students can be placed in a teaching section taught by their home college if one is available. Meanwhile, the IT Strategy Implementation Team is working on a longer-term solution for managing these processes within Banner 9, which will also make it easier to access rosters and enter grades for pooled sections starting AY24.
- Finally, we have established a new LMS Governance Process to support collaboration across colleges in managing changes to our Learning Management System and related technology. The Change Advisory Board will include faculty representation from SFAC (State Faculty Advisory Council), SIAC (State Instructor Advisory Council), and OFIAC (Online Faculty and Instructor Advisory Committee), as well as technical, academic, and student affairs staff from both CCCS and individual colleges. The Change Advisory Board will begin meeting in January. RFP teams are also being formed for our systemwide video capture/streaming solution and the addition of a syllabus management tool.
Our bi-weekly info sessions will resume bright and early at 8:00 am on January 11, each session focusing on a specific topic of interest. Recordings of previous sessions and other information about the project can be found on the Colorado Online @ Blog. Do not hesitate to contact me or Tammy Vercauteren, Project Director of Online Strategic Planning, if you have any questions. We hope you have a wonderful holiday with family and friends, and look forward to connecting with you in the new year!
Sincerely,
Landon